The 6th HUPE in Storyland competition Ranking

I will always remember the day when everything started... How could I possibly know that my 17th birthday was the beginning of a big change in my life? During that time I was still in high school. I used to live with my grandma in Sydney, because my parents worked abroad. My friends from Europe have always been describing Sydney as a city full of famous buildings, such as Sydney Opera House, but when you spend some time there, you see its true color. They stayed only during the summer, so they did not have a chance to experience living there during a whole year. It is always sunny and warm there which has always made me feel fulfilled. The entire town is full of various types of plants and exotic animals. Because of that, I have never felt like I was living in a city, but in a wilderness. It made me feel free. But I have never seen those animals as exotic. I just got used to them, so they have always felt normal. People from Sydney are probably the most talkative people I have ever meet. Also, it used to feel like the city was talking to you sometimes during sunsets. When I was younger, my friends and I used to go to the beach really late. The only living creatures on the beach that were not asleep during that time were silver gulls. Firstly, they were afraid of us, but when they spent some time near us, they were no longer running away. Ethan, my best friend whose dad still owns a fishing shop, used to steal some worms from the shop and tried to feed the silver gulls, but they have always refused to grab and eat the worms in front of us. Ethan is the only person from my friend group whose ancestors were Aboriginal Australian. He was so proud of his origins, but because of his appearance, many persons have insulted him during childhood, so he did not have many friends. A few days before my 17th birthday we were planning to celebrate it on the beach. The plan was finally ready when the forecaster said that it will snow on my birthday. I could not believe what I heard. That was probably the most unexpected thing that could happen. My birthday is in the summer, so it was unpredictable to expect snow in Australia. Since I cannot control weather, I had to change my plans. It made me really sad because I have always wanted to celebrate my 17th birthday on the beach with my friends, like the cool kids in the movies do. So, I succeeded in persuading my grandma to move the party to the house. The only condition she gave me was that I was not allowed to bring more than five people home. The reason she said that was the fact that our house was really small, because we did not have much money. It made me feel really uncomfortable and disappointed to cut off some of my friends from the list of guest, but I did not have another option. My final guests were Ethan, Thomas, Amelia and Colbee. The day before the birthday I helped my grandma clean the attic. I have always thought that celebrating birthday in weird places, such as attics, could be so cool. However, the attic in my grandma's house was not as scary as those you can see in movies. It had four colorful windows, so every time when the Sun shone through them, it looked like the flowers grew out of the walls in the attic. While we were cleaning, my grandma found some old newspapers she could read while we were celebrating my birthday. I asked her to join us, but she refused saying she was too old for that but, honestly, I do not believe you could ever be too old to celebrate someone's birthday. Anyway, I remember her baking me a chocolate cake with passion fruit glaze. I have never eaten something like that before, but trust me, that was the one of the most delicious things I have ever tried. The day after was my long-awaited birthday and, of course, it was snowing. Even though I wanted to go to the beach, I felt special because I have never seen the snow before. And only the fact that it was the middle of the summer was crazy. My grandma woke me up with an enormous smile on her face and hugged me. Then, I opened the window and it was so cold outside that made me think if I have some winter clothes. Well, at the end I realized that I did not own any, so I was forced to wear my grandma's sweatshirt. With in bitterness my heart I put it on and waited for my friends to arrive. Ethan was the first one who arrived.- Oh, you should have told me this is a themed party. - he said with the smile on his face, but I just rolled my eyes and told him to come in. The rest of the guests arrived together one hour after Ethan. Of course, they were late, but they probably thought that I would be less mad at them if they come here as a group. To be honest, I was not mad at them at all. I asked them to go upstairs with me, but Colbee was visibly confused. Before that, I asked my grandma one more time if she wanted to come with us, but she said no and to have fun. Also, she told me that she was planning to remove the snow from the driveway. I told her that that was a crazy idea and not to do that. However, in some reason she insisted. When I realized that I could not change her mind, I took my friends to the attic. All of them were impressed by the colorful lights all across the room. When I think about that now, it was actually a benefit to have those kind of windows. As I mentioned before, my grandma did not have much money, so it replaced a big part of decorations. Ethan suggested that we should play some board game, so he let me choose one from his collection. I picked Jenga. When I was younger, my parents used to play it with me every evening. Because of that, Jenga has a special place in my heart. Ethan won the first four rounds. At the beginning of the fifth one we heard some strange noises. I looked around and saw a silver gull knocking on my window. When I opened the window, it did not just fly inside but remained standing on the windowsill. It was unusually calm bird. I thought it was probably hungry, so I ran to the kitchen and brought it a piece of bread. When I put the bread in front of it, the bird just stared into space until she took it and flew away. - What a strange bird! - Thomas said - Honestly, how did a bird manage to distract us from playing a game? This is so funny! - Everyone agreed with Thomas. We were about to start the new round when, suddenly, I heard my grandma screaming at backyard. I opened a window again and saw her laying on the thick layer of snow. - Help me! Help me! Please! - she screamed as I ran downstairs quickly. I was so scared when I saw my grandma paralyzed on the floor. Luckily, Ethan's dad was around, so he helped us. He drove my grandma to the hospital. I remember thinking that was the worst birthday ever while I was waiting with my friends in the waiting room. They tried to comfort me, but the only thing that could do that in that moment was seeing my grandma healthy again. The doctors said that she hurt her back and she had to undergo a surgery. When I heard that, my whole world crashed in the moment. Also, they said that the surgery is very expensive. We did not have enough money for it, so I called my parents to help us. To my disappointment, they said that they will not be able to finance the operation. Their opinion was that all of this was exclusively grandma's fault and because of that, she had to pay for the surgery all by herself. I have never understood how could a child say something like that about their mother. The doctors said that the grandma could go back home already that day if she brings some device with her. That is how it was. They told me I would have to take care of my grandmother until a caregiver could be found for her. When we got home, I laid her down and she fell asleep. I ran upstairs and entered the attic. I have never cried that much like that time. When I thought my whole life fell apart on my birthday, I heard something knocking on my window. It was a bird carrying a golden necklace in its beak. From that day bird brought me golden objects every day. With its help I managed to pay off the operation. That day, the desire to study ornithology awakened in me. Now I am working in South Africa in a bird shelter trying to save the endangered species. Looking back on it now, I understand that the snow on my birthday was not a curse, but a beginning. That strange day taught me that help sometimes comes in the most unexpected forms. Just like that, one silver gull changed my life direction quietly, without warning. What once felt like the worst birthday ever became the day that showed me who I truly wanted to become.

I will always remember the day when everything started... How could I possibly know that my 17th birthday was the beginning of a big change in my life? During that time I was still in high school. I used to live with my grandma in Sydney, because my parents worked abroad. My friends from Europe have always been describing Sydney as a city full of famous buildings, such as Sydney Opera House, but when you spend some time there, you see its true color. They stayed only during the summer, so they did not have a chance to experience living there during a whole year. It is always sunny and warm there which has always made me feel fulfilled. The entire town is full of various types of plants and exotic animals. Because of that, I have never felt like I was living in a city, but in a wilderness. It made me feel free. But I have never seen those animals as exotic. I just got used to them, so they have always felt normal. People from Sydney are probably the most talkative people I have ever meet. Also, it used to feel like the city was talking to you sometimes during sunsets. When I was younger, my friends and I used to go to the beach really late. The only living creatures on the beach that were not asleep during that time were silver gulls. Firstly, they were afraid of us, but when they spent some time near us, they were no longer running away. Ethan, my best friend whose dad still owns a fishing shop, used to steal some worms from the shop and tried to feed the silver gulls, but they have always refused to grab and eat the worms in front of us. Ethan is the only person from my friend group whose ancestors were Aboriginal Australian. He was so proud of his origins, but because of his appearance, many persons have insulted him during childhood, so he did not have many friends. A few days before my 17th birthday we were planning to celebrate it on the beach. The plan was finally ready when the forecaster said that it will snow on my birthday. I could not believe what I heard. That was probably the most unexpected thing that could happen. My birthday is in the summer, so it was unpredictable to expect snow in Australia. Since I cannot control weather, I had to change my plans. It made me really sad because I have always wanted to celebrate my 17th birthday on the beach with my friends, like the cool kids in the movies do. So, I succeeded in persuading my grandma to move the party to the house. The only condition she gave me was that I was not allowed to bring more than five people home. The reason she said that was the fact that our house was really small, because we did not have much money. It made me feel really uncomfortable and disappointed to cut off some of my friends from the list of guest, but I did not have another option. My final guests were Ethan, Thomas, Amelia and Colbee. The day before the birthday I helped my grandma clean the attic. I have always thought that celebrating birthday in weird places, such as attics, could be so cool. However, the attic in my grandma's house was not as scary as those you can see in movies. It had four colorful windows, so every time when the Sun shone through them, it looked like the flowers grew out of the walls in the attic. While we were cleaning, my grandma found some old newspapers she could read while we were celebrating my birthday. I asked her to join us, but she refused saying she was too old for that but, honestly, I do not believe you could ever be too old to celebrate someone's birthday. Anyway, I remember her baking me a chocolate cake with passion fruit glaze. I have never eaten something like that before, but trust me, that was the one of the most delicious things I have ever tried. The day after was my long-awaited birthday and, of course, it was snowing. Even though I wanted to go to the beach, I felt special because I have never seen the snow before. And only the fact that it was the middle of the summer was crazy. My grandma woke me up with an enormous smile on her face and hugged me. Then, I opened the window and it was so cold outside that made me think if I have some winter clothes. Well, at the end I realized that I did not own any, so I was forced to wear my grandma's sweatshirt. With in bitterness my heart I put it on and waited for my friends to arrive. Ethan was the first one who arrived.- Oh, you should have told me this is a themed party. - he said with the smile on his face, but I just rolled my eyes and told him to come in. The rest of the guests arrived together one hour after Ethan. Of course, they were late, but they probably thought that I would be less mad at them if they come here as a group. To be honest, I was not mad at them at all. I asked them to go upstairs with me, but Colbee was visibly confused. Before that, I asked my grandma one more time if she wanted to come with us, but she said no and to have fun. Also, she told me that she was planning to remove the snow from the driveway. I told her that that was a crazy idea and not to do that. However, in some reason she insisted. When I realized that I could not change her mind, I took my friends to the attic. All of them were impressed by the colorful lights all across the room. When I think about that now, it was actually a benefit to have those kind of windows. As I mentioned before, my grandma did not have much money, so it replaced a big part of decorations. Ethan suggested that we should play some board game, so he let me choose one from his collection. I picked Jenga. When I was younger, my parents used to play it with me every evening. Because of that, Jenga has a special place in my heart. Ethan won the first four rounds. At the beginning of the fifth one we heard some strange noises. I looked around and saw a silver gull knocking on my window. When I opened the window, it did not just fly inside but remained standing on the windowsill. It was unusually calm bird. I thought it was probably hungry, so I ran to the kitchen and brought it a piece of bread. When I put the bread in front of it, the bird just stared into space until she took it and flew away. - What a strange bird! - Thomas said - Honestly, how did a bird manage to distract us from playing a game? This is so funny! - Everyone agreed with Thomas. We were about to start the new round when, suddenly, I heard my grandma screaming at backyard. I opened a window again and saw her laying on the thick layer of snow. - Help me! Help me! Please! - she screamed as I ran downstairs quickly. I was so scared when I saw my grandma paralyzed on the floor. Luckily, Ethan's dad was around, so he helped us. He drove my grandma to the hospital. I remember thinking that was the worst birthday ever while I was waiting with my friends in the waiting room. They tried to comfort me, but the only thing that could do that in that moment was seeing my grandma healthy again. The doctors said that she hurt her back and she had to undergo a surgery. When I heard that, my whole world crashed in the moment. Also, they said that the surgery is very expensive. We did not have enough money for it, so I called my parents to help us. To my disappointment, they said that they will not be able to finance the operation. Their opinion was that all of this was exclusively grandma's fault and because of that, she had to pay for the surgery all by herself. I have never understood how could a child say something like that about their mother. The doctors said that the grandma could go back home already that day if she brings some device with her. That is how it was. They told me I would have to take care of my grandmother until a caregiver could be found for her. When we got home, I laid her down and she fell asleep. I ran upstairs and entered the attic. I have never cried that much like that time. When I thought my whole life fell apart on my birthday, I heard something knocking on my window. It was a bird carrying a golden necklace in its beak. From that day bird brought me golden objects every day. With its help I managed to pay off the operation. That day, the desire to study ornithology awakened in me. Now I am working in South Africa in a bird shelter trying to save the endangered species. Looking back on it now, I understand that the snow on my birthday was not a curse, but a beginning. That strange day taught me that help sometimes comes in the most unexpected forms. Just like that, one silver gull changed my life direction quietly, without warning. What once felt like the worst birthday ever became the day that showed me who I truly wanted to become.